3-mob.com 
The Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa) has announced that the national phase of the African Schools Football Championship by CAF has been introduced to the coiuntry.
The local phase will take place at Harare’s Allan Wilson High School on 27 and 28 October 2023.
Boys and girls in school between the ages of 12 and 15 are eligible to compete in the competition. There are three stages to the competition: national, zonal, and continental.
16 teams will take part, with coaches and scouts picking the respective teams to represent Zimbabwe at the zonal championships in December.
Now this is a monumental occasion because of multiple reasons but we will stick to two.
Exposure
More often that not, football players get exposed to regional or continental football from Under-17 level (if Zimbabwe chooses to cobble a team together). This means that they do not understand the rigors of international sport until later. They do not get the feel of what is expected of them when it comes to becoming top level stars. This will help them develop skills outside their own country, meeting different challenges on and off the pitch. These are important ingredients in improving players.
Multi-stakeholder involvement
More often than not, initiatives like this have been saddled on the national sports association, with very little interest bar stamping a paper from central or any other government. Here Ministry of Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture, Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, National Association of Primary Heads (NAPH), National Association of Secondary Heads (NASH), Association Of Trust Schools (ATS), as well as the Zimbabwe Independent Colleges Association (ZICA) are listed as partners. This means that the various conditions that build a character who can become a sports star are in place. That is great for the game. And it means that sport is being taken seriously. One would hope this approach is taken to other disciplines as well.
Comments
Loading…